Peter Bolton

The Keeper's Crown Peter Bolton

Having witnessed the execution of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, Eleanor, created Princess of Wales by the Queen, is finally rid of her nemesis. Or is she?Cursed from the scaffold by the man she loathed, and plagued by nightmares, Eleanor wrestles with her conscience as to whether she deserves the Crown or not. Her dilemma increases when two of the events she has been instrumental in arranging begin to come to light, and if she is found out, she is more likely to face the headsman's axe than the Crown of England. It is not helped when people known to her start to die in mysterious circumstances, and she commences receiving threats to her life, and the lives of those she loves, if she continues with her quest to take the Throne on the death of the Monarch. As time goes by, more people die as she suspects first one, then another of being behind the threats and murders. When her husband is ordered overseas, leaving her to manage her estates alone, it seems like the final straw. But things only get worse when one of the people she thought she could trust to look out for her interests turns on her, seeking only to look for their own and poison her mind against those she can really rely on. The rock she has come to rely on to point her in the right direction seems to be losing its power, leaving her to decide for herself exactly what course of action to take whereas before she would have been guided on what to do. Will she stay true to the Queen's wishes and take the English Crown or will the wheel of fate over which none of us can control dictate otherwise?